Full Project Zomboid Mod Tutorial - Start to Finish
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- Опубликовано: 11 фев 2025
- 1:11 Step 1 - Know your file locations
4:06 Step 2 - Storyboard your ideas out
9:03 Step 3 - Get your files from the game or other mods
11:47 Step 4 - Build your mod files
1:01:54 Step 5 - Create the textures (mislabeled in the video, oops)
1:19:45 Step 6 - Put your mod files in the right structure
1:30:37 Step 7 - Test your mod (please back up your saves)
1:50:15 Step 8 - Refine your mod. Details are key, make it look professional
2:27:00 Step 9 - Upload to Steam
Probably my longest video yet. Please make sure to send any kind of support you can, these things are not easy to make lol.
Subscribing, liking, sharing are all free and mega helpful. If you want to leave a tip, link is ko-fi.com/wpat...
UPDATE: Here are helpful files for new modders, just my random notes and various bits of code I learned from trial and error, and the full list of locations for procedural distribution, hopefully you make use of it. PLEASE share my stuff around though, subscribe, even donate if you'd like. This was a ton of work and I'm giving it out for free to the community. So do enjoy!
Notes: docs.google.co...
ProcDist List: docs.google.co...
This video is a full walkthrough of me making an entire mod from start to finish. In includes Lua, Excel, and Photoshop CC tips, but not detailed info on how those things work. (It assumes you have a working knowledge of pixel art and basic programming, but if not, it's easy enough to learn, and if you just get PaintDOTnet it's free to do all of it.)
A quick shoutout to Blackbeard (@blackbeard4717) for getting me started on mod making. To see the mod completed:
steamcommunity...
Idk what else to write, stay in vegetables, eat your homework, do school.
✨ASPIRING MODDERS! ✨LINKS TO MY NOTES AND A FULL LIST OF THE PROCEDURAL DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE COMMENTS NOW! 🙂 💞 (They will continue to be updated as I mod more. Please also consider a small donation, coffee's like $3.49 now 😅) Thanks and take care everyone!
4:32 Gotta hate when muscle memory kicks in
😂😂😂
“Hey so, I’m gonna keep this brief.”
*Two and a half hours later*
for a full mod from start to finish, I'd say that's pretty brief lol
linked, subscribed, shared, saved, downloaded, emailed, sms'ed, morse coded
thanks for the effort bro.
I’ve always wanted to learn how to mod and PZ seemed like a great start. I’m so happy I found your video, it covers a lot and I was so happy to find out it was made by the creator of one of my favorite mods!!! Skill Literature is my FAVORITE! Can’t play without it :)
I am so glad to hear all of those things! Definitely get into modding, LUA is a sweet programming language, I would love to spend more time on it some day. I have many mod ideas I still wanna do 😅
I'm gonna be honest; Project Zomboid is one of the worst games you can start with when learning to mod games.
The reason I say this is because, as far as my knowledge goes, this is the only game that uses this way of modding the game; using .txt and .lua files.
Most other games use a proper programming language such as Java, C# or C++. *_However,_* though very rare, other games may sometimes use .lua files for other things.
Another easy game is world of horror really easy to make new stuff
I refused to believe this channel only have 513 sub rn. Great job bro
Thank you so much man, I've been wanting to grow this channel for a decade and I'm starting to see almost daily subs, it's such a good feeling!
@@WPatrickOfficial don’t give up, you are almost there! I would be interested in different aspect of modding and looking forward for more uploads
You're channel is criminally underrated man! I just know you'll make it even bigger some day!
I really appreciate that! Comments like these give me hope haha
Your
This probably won't be my last comment, as I'm only 8.5 minutes into the video, but you read my mind when you described how you duplicated the lines in notepad++. it's such a simple feature, but somehow, it blew my mind. (I've never modded or coded before. I'm here because I'm trying to make a mod that adds more ambient music to the game)
Either way, thanks for including that bit, as it implies you will maintain a great depth of detail throughout the video, and as a complete modding noob, I will need that.
subbed before even watching the video out of respect for making content to try and inspire others to make mods for zomboid. surprised nobody else has done this. keep it up
I really appreciate that. I may do another video like this some time when the new update comes out (Cause I know a lot's being reworked code-wise lol)
@@WPatrickOfficial good to know. i'd recommend trying to trim the video runtime down though wherever possible i know its difficult with it being an indepth guide but very few people are going to sit and watch a 2 & half hour video on youtube :p
@@adamcarlton3312 Oh I know haha, but at the same time sometimes I vibe with longer vids. That’s why I added the tags though, so people can skip parts they already know. I do have some shorted tuts planned for other things though
Exactly what I did lol
Mentioning this vid in my next upload - insane there isn't a lot more videos around this. Good job dude!
Was looking to branch out from other games and start modding pz, what a nice coincidence!
22:19 This is necessary and makes it cleaner and clearer for my smooth brain! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video and including all these small quality-of-life things like indentation. There's more in here but I absolutely thrive with full thorough explanations. Thank you for being my first step in coding and creating for Project Zomboid. I don't know if you'll even see this a year later but thank you so much for this video. I cannot thank you enough for your time and efforts.
50:21 Things may be bad to you but this is my first step and I'm learning with you 😂 at least you're explaining everything and doing your best. There's not many pz mod creation videos I've seen. Maybe because it's "coding tutroials" more than modding tutorials? Idk but I'm so grateful for this.
What are the odds, I was starting on this yesterday, just came from blackbeard also! Subbed
I know it's been a bit since the video's been uploaded but I wanted to say thanks for being so thorough with the tutorial. I followed it the whole way through and successfully made my very first mod! It's hard to believe you've only got 900 subs as of this comment but I hope mine helps. I'm also glad to be the 1000th like on the video! It's with the help of people like you that games like Zomboid get the modding community they deserve. Thanks.
I really appreciate it! I've been meaning to get some time and get back to everyone's comments. I dove hard into LUA and learning how to make these mods then got distracted being like, a dad and stuff haha. But when the next build comes out I'm jumping right back in, maybe with a new tutorial. Link me your mod if you upload it!
@@WPatrickOfficial Of course! I'm just working out the little issues popping up right now. I thought I was ready to publish but for some reason my "ReplaceOnUse" line stopped working. Its been a frustrating few hours troubleshooting it but I'll figure it out eventually. Regardless, Build 42's gonna bring a ton of new content I can't wait to see what people do with it.
I fixed the issue and finally got to posting it last night. I could've sworn I posted the link under my other comment, maybe it was removed? Anyways, the ID is 3120494862. It's a small mod and a not very serious one at that but I figured it'd be a good way to start my zomboid modding out.
Thanks again and good luck on RUclips!
Thank you sir!! Loved the self deprecation included and really appreciate you showing most of the errors along the way.
Keep it up!
THanks for the video, and timestamps too oh wow
Appreciate your support!
Freeze dried foods actually have all the nutritional content of their rehydrate counterparts (but very slightly less than fresh). However, freeze dried food is frequently not pleasant to eat dry, and can cause digestion issues
Thanks for the video man, it's seriously appreciated. I know literally nothing about coding or game development and wanna try and get into modding with pz. Hope I don't give up
Thanks for the tutorial, very useful video!
Just thought about making a character for a video but i can't find the clothing i want, so i'll need to mod it. Your video is really awesome! I'm watching atm. Really good pace and nice organization! Really easy to follow and pleasent to watch! I'm excited about modding PZ! Thanks for the video!
Also, giving away the codes that you came up with and your tests is really wonderful, i forward that alot! I can't donate because i'm unemployed at the moment but i'm sending you lots of appreciation tokens!
Saw sc2 icon == subscribed instantly! Well done! guide s great for starting up!
This was very good ! It showed a lot of things about modding in PZ and I believe is a good way to start.
Great tutorial! Still about halfway through, but you asked about the meaning / reason for putting module Base at the top of the scripts. The vanilla items in PZ are part of a module called Base. You should be able to reference items in your script without typing Base.itemName and instead just itemName since your script is extending the Base module. What you can do is change the module name to whatever you want like such as: WPDriedMeats { } and right after the opening bracket use imports { Base, } which will put all your items in your own module and you can still reference items by their name without putting Base.itemName. In the recipe lua, I reference my items by my custom module name dot item name like: DriedMeats.DriedSteak instead of Base.DriedSteak. I'm pretty sure I saw one of your other mods using this structure. Thanks again for the tutorial! I'm looking forward watching the rest!
been searching for tutorial like this for a while. thx bro!
I was looking for a way to start modding one of my favorite games in a language I just learned... What I really learned was that freeze dried raw meat does still need to be cooked.
Oh and I learned a lot about modding, which I thank you for. But the big life lesson take away was cook your raw freeze dried food.
I had the bringht idea of trying to make a wind turbine mod...it is a way bigger undetanking than I had imagined
Hahah honestly the smallest thing takes SO much effort, I wouldn't even know where to begin with something like that. I wanted to do a clothes mod and lost ALL hope within like an hour lmao
@@WPatrickOfficial same but for with me furniture...
@WPatrickOfficial oh God I hope you found the hope you lost lol maybe I can share some of my hope and now, a year later, you can figure it out? *gets hopes up really high to give some hope to you*
@@seekyunbounded9273 did you ever learn how to mod furniture?
Ever finish it? Sounds interesting
Thanks! I'm always playing way more than my friend who hosts a server. I REALLY want to make a mod that makes it so plants don't grow when the planter is offline so I stop passively destroying his farms.
Great video with lots of great info in it. Using vscode would have helped you blaze through a lot of the little issues that came up like typos and needing to mass correct typos using the multi cursor feature in vscode.
I haven't done any mods, but I think for items you ideally shouldn't be putting them in module "base", because base is for base game. If someone (server host/admin) wanted to add your mod's items from auto-remove blacklist/whitelist they could do it by including your module name rather than having to list each item. Also for admin spawning items (perhaps a more likely scenario) I think it's a quick way to filter for all items from a given mod by using the search feature.
As you hinted at, it would also prevent conflicting (same name) items from mods, with no need to add a prefix for each item like you did.
Overall not a big deal though, but I think that was kind of the point of the module's existence.
That's some valuable feedback, I appreciate it. I didn't quite understand that bit of code, just saw it in another mod and left it there cause it seemed to work lol. But when I go take the time to refine these eventually and possibly make additional mods, I'm certainly going to consider that, so thank you!
motiwation, motiwation plus, no lazy, super productivity spell on:D
Sick vid. Ty!
I have an idea anyone feel free to create it.
A slingshot/slingshot rifle. The slingshot would be a lootable item in places like supermarkets/toy stores and other related buildings.
You would also need to find BB molds of different sizes or craft them with metal working.
the slingshot rifle would be a craft able weapon that involves different levels of carpentry skill. From crude, to masterwork. With each looking more and more refined and a bolt action rifle like appearance, would give you high damage at the cost of High DPS, capable with high levels of aiming of one shotting zeds.
The recipe would be something like.
3 planks
1 entire bottle of wood glue
2x nails
8x screws,
1 small sheet(at masterwork)
And the band from the base slingshot.
With damage and accuracy increase with the different quality levels.
oh wow didnt even realize you are trait literature guy, Hi love that mod
Thank you for teaching me.
Thanks for this!
How would I go about adding a NPC that would be at a spot on the map?
I have.. no idea 😅 I haven't toyed with LUA or mods in a while. I would download a different NPC mod and pull it apart, see what you can learn from it. That's how I figured out what little I know lol
Hey, I have a problem with the functions, when I open the container it just gives me the empty can. I don’t know why it happens, I tried to redo my code but it seems to be fine.
Ahh, unfortunately I'd have to see your code to help troubleshoot the issue, but I also lack the time these days. Just backup your saves and keep changing things til it works haha, that's what I do.
Thank your video
1;45 ish, think the can you were thinking of was protein powder
4:33 Old habits die hard
Wow, that would be great if we have a mod about the zombie in L4D. :)
Does anyone know why some codes are capitalised? Like why is there lowercase true but then also TRUE
23:30
I guess just personal preference
Thank you
any chance to make a tutorial for a clothes mod because i have been trying to make a holsters mod
It's gonna be a while before I figure out quite how to do that, but honestly I have some clothes IRL that I'd love to add and truly play as myself, so maybe one day!
Tip: Don't work with uppercase AND lowercase wording. Stick with one or the other, do not mix them as that brings the issues shown in this video with the pork chop.
Generally with this specific situation I would've named everything "-PorkChop" to stick to "Camel Case" way of naming, meaning every next word starts with a capital letter.
I just want to restyle the hud, but can't find the textures
Try to download an UI mod and check the files
@Hank_Hulery I did but I don't understand how these files are packed
Hello Patrick!
I am following your tutorial and it is awesome! however, I have a problem when adding the mod to the game (1:32:12 in your video). It appears in the mod list of mod manager but when i click on "Accept" it doesn't load, it only appears the mod manager mod in the Mod selection of the solo Game. Any ideas?
Thank in advance!
Can you please explain how to do distributions with the new system?
Great video thanks for this. FYI in general terms calorie counts (for real life) are like so -> 1g carb = 4 calories, 1g protein = 4 calories and 1g fat (lipid) = 9 calories. Too bad the PZ crew didn't have the game just do the real math based on this.
How would one say, make a mod where it allows you to do other actions while smoking a cigarette?
I wanna make a mod but it’s for the alarm for houses but I don’t think this works the same
Thanks! I want to make a mod and at least I'm doing the first half, I'm looking a way to test it, because I play through Geforce Now, I'll try to use the workshop as a test, but I don't know, at least I'm not that lost with your guide, thanks!!!
I am on the fence between modding and playing soo if anyone is looking for ideas = punching bag and wing chun dummy mod = martial arts / jump rope, jumping jacks and wind sprints ( set target area and character auto runs back and forth 4 tiles for set time), Archery / melee / shooting range. +xp for hit on target at incremental rate (set to auto shoot) mind your ammo and your noise. But if i work on these then i know i would commit to modding and will i ever even play again? I have an idea every time i play the game, like today i was thinking of a remote for cars, if you equip the key to your primary car, device options menu and key fob opens. Great for baiting Zs, park car set off panic alarm get out and the Zs come, and realizes left dufflebag in car.
pls help im trying to add puppy chow(muddy buddies) and I havent got to the distribution yet but I cant find the item in the item list idk what I'm doing wrong
nvm Im just dumb
Hey bro, awesome video! But I could really do with some help/advice and you seem like the right person to ask. I am having a really hard time getting mods to work with zomboid. No matter what I do the bear bus mod always gets messed up it spawns but I can never add attachments to it and the one time that did work after I reloaded the save they were gone and they cost a lot to make. I've changed the load order so many tines I took away every mod then added them back testing one at a time for errors and even after all that I still just can't get the bus to work and I know it works there are loads of pictures and videos of it out there with the attachments. All I want is a nomad playthrough with a awesome bus with a spiky plough 😢 plz can you make a video guide on how to properly install and check mods so you can have a lot of mods that still work properly? I can't find any videos I only started playing on pc for zomboid so this is all relatively new to me
Do you have tsar utility mod?
How do you mod traits? Specifically I'm trying to mod the Agoraphobic/Adrenaline Junkie combination back into the game but I can't for the life of me find the location of the code for the traits to base my modifications off of. Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
bro can you show me how to make the icon and world static model?
i hope i will be able to make cars, really want some specific cars on my gameplay
2:18:57 What should I do if I want to put 2 items instead of 1
Besides just, changing the 1 to a 2? What exactly are ya trying to do?
@@WPatrickOfficialits all good now
4:33 👀
I wondered if anyone was gonna catch that, I was hoping it could slip under the radar 😅
Helpful! :D
Love your work bro keep it up btw your mod Skill literature is Great! Give you a Subscribe
What could be causing an infinite lua reloading thing to occur?
omg thank you so much
ah yes, steak chicken and porn
Hoping for a more trait focus instead of items personally.
Nice brow
Very cool video. Can I ask you something? I would like to create a custom loading screen for my Project Zomboid server. Where it always says "This is how you died".
I just can't find any information on the internet about how to do it or if it works at all. Can you help me there maybe? I have also tried to program my own mod but unfortunately it does not work.
I would be very happy if you can help me.
Greetings Flip
-you should do more project zomboid vids
i dont think you need a magazine to learn how to REHYDRATE meat
Anyone know how to create a simple spawnpoint mod? Either a rough description or a video tutorial would be great. Im sure i can figure it out once i know the starting point, but i cant for the life of me find where to start.
show us how to get other mod folders
what are the chances of you sharing these notes?
If you subscribe to a mod, all the files are available on your computer and you're free to go through them! Save a copy elsewhere though, so as not to disrupt the mod if you change anything. I think if you go into your profile folder, like where your documents and photos etc are saved, then into Zomboid, it's maybe in the workshop folder? Either that or find the steam folder, and it should be under a bunch of numbers.. 108 something, then click around til ya find the mod you're lookin' for.
@@WPatrickOfficial Yes, I was talking (kind of joking) that your "Coding Notepad.txt" file seems to have a lot of useful stuff that you've accumulated in this learning, about useful functions to use in mod, but I understand that this is a guide from what you've already been harvesting.
Btw thanks for the video, im looking into mod to zomboid just now and you helped a lot
@@RamonCavalcante OH! Yeah I completely forgot about that one hahah. Yeah man, information should be free, let me set it up in my Google Drive later (as both a Docs file and txt in a folder) and I'll link it in the video's description. I'll warn you though, it's hardly organized haha.
Thanks @W. Patrick! I was just about to ask you to share the "Coding Notepad.txt" file before I came across @Ramon Cavalcante's comment.
The notes are now available, check the description :)
how can i make an sauna mod
Hahah no idea. But you'd wanna start by working out the logic - do you want to add sauna rooms that spawn in? Or ones that you build? What's it do to your character? And why? Is it going to sweat out infection or heat the character up during winter? Does it need power or not? Then you gotta figure out all the functions you need to make that work, add the items, world models, etc. I have no clue how to do all that but, that's my take. Good luck lmao
The lack of auto complete is what stops me from modding this game
hello man i wanto to make a mod right now i am a little drumk but i rly want to make a mod about traits i want to add a trait called prone to unhapinnes thats basically that, well the mod is obviusly like a depression, i want to make the mod because my dog have depression i guess, i mean she looks little sad and doesnt play like before, maybe its just a phase, like an emo phase for dogs, idk the thing is i want to make a mod like that
Base to your experience, is creating your own mod for games can improve your coding skills?
Can somebody please make mod wich replaces vanilla pz music to l4d and l4d2 soundtracks...
how do i make a car mod?
the file system is a lil wonkey. just spend a good 30 minutes exploring around
Airplane mode! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I really learned from your video. so here is a gift for the zomboid community :
with this powershell script you print the mod id (those numbers) and its actual name
# Get the root directory
$rootDirectory = "F:\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\108600"
# Get all directories in the root directory
$directories = Get-ChildItem -Path $rootDirectory -Directory
# Loop through each directory
foreach ($directory in $directories) {
$modDirectory = Join-Path -Path $directory.FullName -ChildPath "mods"
if (Test-Path -Path $modDirectory) {
# Get the 'modname' subdirectory
$modnameDirectory = Get-ChildItem -Path $modDirectory -Directory
# Print the 'modname'
Write-Host $directory.Name -> $modnameDirectory.Name
}
}
it prints stuff like this:
2081538550 -> Hydrocraft
2091564445 -> Swatpack
2122265954 -> ScrapWeapons (New Version)
2169435993 -> ModOptions
2186592938 -> CraftHelper41
2200148440 -> Brita's Weapon Pack
2282429356 -> AutotsarTrailers
Subbing to you for more project zomboid mod tuts
Is there any way I can get in touch with you :D
There are ways! However I don't think I'd be very helpful with most things haha, I only wanted to share what little I knew with this video.
thanks for let us show us how your work is done !
i just don't understand why your dried meat is fronzen :p
Freeze-dried meat is non-perishable, so there's no time limit and you can save it for emergencies 🙂
Subed just because you asked
can you earn from making mods?
I wish haha, this is just a little side project for me. Some people make custom mods for people and get paid for it, Atomic Duck conscripted some folks. I just do this cause I love it. (Though my gfs did recommend I set up a Ko-Fi so donations could happen)
@@WPatrickOfficial So if you put your mod in steam, steam doesn't pay you?
@@kuroketsueki9059 Nope, they sure don’t. Everything is just community shared and driven by love, pretty much. I suppose you could sell mods behind a paywall but I can’t anticipate that would be very successful lol.
i see that
i love pork
Then I have the mod for you, friend 🥲
why cant there just be a simple reskinning tutorial
Stay away from Photoshop, they can and will use your intellectual property in their own products. There are plenty of free and well made alternatives out there. GIMP being one.
Automatic sub
666th sub 😈
I didn't even realize I had that many! I had like 300 a month or two ago, y'all are great!
2:14:11
didn't even work, not even sure where I went wrong watching 1:27:11 I wish I could understand where I went wrong but I feel not much was even explained.
1:34:16